MT SNEAK PEEK — Trucking hearing: House T&I’s Highways and Transit panel holds a hearing today on bus and truck safety programs (briefing memo: http://1.usa.gov/PrZ975). Trucking groups have raised issues with the CSA safety program, saying FMCSA’s distortion of the data can harm some safe drivers. But Steve Owings, who lost his son in a truck crash and is president of Road Safe America, will say that all crashes, even if it’s not the trucker’s fault, are a good metric and can help predict future crashes. “It is a tremendous mischaracterization to say that this process is unfair and that some trucking companies are being blamed for crashes that they did not cause. Fault is not, and never has been, a part of this process,” he will say, according to prepared remarks obtained by MT. His full testimony: http://bit.ly/QjJnca

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Not all bashing: Subcommittee Chairman John Duncan told MT that the hearing’s intent is not to bash the program but instead to learn more. “There’s been a lot of complaints about it, but the regulators are telling me it’s working great,” he quipped. He said the program is taking flak for more than just how crashes are counted and he’d been told that one trucking company got written up because a driver hadn’t paid child support. Still, Duncan has also “heard that the program is an improvement over what was there before.” He also plans to talk up the role small businesses play in the trucking industry. “It gives me a chance to at least mention to them that I hope they won’t make this thing so bureaucratic … that they end up causing problems for the small guys.”

SEQUESTER’S AVIATION IMPACT: The buzz of Washington — the automatic spending cuts slated to kick in early next year — has spilled over into transportation hearings. At a T&I hearing yesterday, Rep. Jerry Costello tried to pin down Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari on just exactly what it means for the FAA. “You’ve had plenty of time, and hopefully your agency is planning both for if sequestration happens or if it doesn’t happen,” Costello said. But after Porcari gave a bit of a non-answer, Costello cut him off, saying he’d heard that line before: “What I’m asking you specifically is to give us some figures. You obviously know. You had to plan for sequestration.” Porcari replied by saying CBO has pegged the impact at 7.8 percent for non-defense agencies. Kathryn has more on the exchange (for Pros, of course): http://politico.pro/U7YRR6

Hatching an investigation: FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta said his agency is “cooperating fully” with an Office of Special Counsel investigation into a whistleblower complaint that two FAA supervisors suggested agency workers should vote Democratic in the presidential election to ward off budget cuts. Rep. Chip Cravaack said reports of the supervisors’ comments are “extremely inappropriate” and asked whether they were made at the behest of the administration. Huerta responded that it’s “certainly not” coming from the FAA or the White House and that the agency takes potential violations “very seriously.”

Fee redux: A House panel on Wednesday took aim at a White House proposal to tack on a new $100 aviation user fee, even though the idea has been dead in the water for years thanks to strong bipartisan opposition in Congress. Kathryn recaps the hearing for Pros: http://politico.pro/OhPYBX

Further aviation reading: CRS has a report out this week on unmanned aircraft, aka drones, that delves into the “ambitious” timeline for drone research and guidelines to integrate drones into the airspace by 2015 and the privacy and operational concerns drones will bring. http://bit.ly/OqlNhB

WHITE HOUSE FORUM: Top transportation leaders, including Secretary Ray LaHood and FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff, huddled yesterday for a White House forum on job creation and transit’s impact on communities. AFL-CIO TTD’s Ed Wytkind was at the meeting and said it was a forward-thinking discussion of “ways to execute a public transit policy agenda.” Among the topics were how to use new tools in the transportation law, like the TIFIA loan guarantee expansion, workforce development and, of course, some back-and-forth on how to fund transportation long-term. Wytkind had another take away: “You could never have this conversation in the Romney administration.” The Obama “administration is really trying to deal with the transportation crunch.” Under Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, he said, “I think we’re doomed.”

REMINDER: The House is set to vote on the CR today, and the Senate will likely follow suit next week. It runs through March 27 and falls just short of MAP-21’s spending targets.

WHAT THE CHAIRMAN THINKS OF THE HOLDS: Kathryn asked FAA’s Huerta if Sen. Jim Demint’s hold on his nomination was affecting his job at all. His response: “I would love to have a deputy.” MT was curious what T&I Chairman John Mica thought of the upper chamber backlog, and Mica told us it’s revenge served cold for the Democrats. “With Huerta, it’s sort of payback for what they did with Sturgell. They held him and we got Babbitt,” Mica said. Robert Sturgell was the acting administrator during the waning months of George W. Bush’s presidency, but Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez placed a hold on him that eventually kept him from ever assuming the five-year term. Mica also said as far he knew, Huerta has not indicated the hold is “detrimental to moving forward” with NextGen.

Taking ‘em to the cleaners: The other hold is of course Sen. _____’s on a bill that fights back against the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme. Mica got the House version passed easily nearly a year ago, and he’s still waiting on the Senate to do the same. “People in the Senate need to get some starch in their underwear and start defending the U.S. position rather than holding hostage legislation that would eliminate an unfair tax,” he told MT, which is fairly confident that’s the first underwear reference we’ve printed.

THE TRANSIT VOTE: Most voters want governments to allocate more resources to public transportation — though questions remain on how they’d like to pay for it, according to new polling released Wednesday by NRDC. About two-thirds of the 800 likely voters polled expressed they would like to see local governments invest more in transit. And those same voters overestimated what they pay in state gas taxes, leading the bipartisan polling team to conclude that specific, regional referendums — often attached to a sales tax increase — may be the best way for frustrated voters to send a message to politicians on their infrastructure preferences. Pros get more from Burgess: http://politico.pro/U7YWnT

Fighting back: Amalgamated Transit Union President Larry Hanley sees these numbers and concludes: “The only obstacle to Americans and what they want is their Congress.” Later this month, Hanley and ATU are going to Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Colo., to mobilize transit workers and riders to make their voices are heard. “Everybody in America supports transit. Every group, even Republicans,” Hanley told MT. “Everyone believes transit has been ignored.” ATU will be in Denver ahead of the first presidential debate on Oct. 3. It’s no coincidence, he said, that his group will be visible in the middle of the much-anticipated event. “We planned it very carefully,” he said.

REPORTS OUT TODAY — Waterways: ASCE lays out the damage if the U.S. fails to invest in its ports — both land and water. The fourth installment in its "Failure to Act" series, the report quantifies the impact on jobs and GDP if the nation does not address port infrastructure needs. The long-awaited report comes as ports ramp up efforts to prepare for the Panama Canal expansion. "You can't just talk about the economy without talking about the ports," PORTS Caucus head Rep. Janice Hahn told Jessica. Hahn, who got a sneak peak at parts of the report, said she was delighted by it. Keep watch later this morning for updates.

Organizing for transit: The Transportation Equity Network puts out a study today showing that “community organizing is stunningly effective as a jobs creator and economic stimulus” — especially for transit and infrastructure campaigns, which had the highest job-creation figures. It comes out at 11 a.m.

APPROVED: Yesterday, the House passed Bob Turner’s transit security bill ( http://1.usa.gov/O5myXz) on a suspension vote, 355-62. The legislation allows local law enforcement teams to be eligible to receive funding under the Transit Security Grant Program.

NOMINATED: The White House announced yesterday that it plans to nominate Christopher R. Beall to be on the Amtrak board of directors. Beall is a partner at infrastructure investment firm Highstar Capital.

NADA FOR NADA: NADA zoomed around Capitol Hill on Wednesday to convince lawmakers that the new mpg standards are "kind of onerous," said Ray Ciccolo, NADA's Election Action Committee chairman. He said they should reflect consumer demand. And like electric cars, he doesn't think people will fork over the excess money for the vehicles. Also on the agenda: advocating for a single fuel economy regulator and against a transferable vehicle tax credit. Ciccolo said it would switch the cost from buyer to dealer. Lawmakers suggested they return after the election when they can accomplish something, he said.

CREW’S CORRUPT CREW: The government ethics watchdog put out its list of the most corrupt politicians. There are some transportation names on the list: T&I members Tim Bishop, Don Young and Laura Richardson make the cut. Rep. Paul Broun, who’s been vocal about wanting TSA head John Pistole out of his job, also appears on the list. Rep. Darrell Issa, who’s looked at trucking and other transportation issues on his oversight committee, is a “dishonorable mention.” Read more and see why they’re on the list: http://bit.ly/pdbkap

MOVING ON: Kristina Moore has left her job working for Issa and the oversight committee, where she was senior counsel and managed regulatory oversight issues, among others. She starts on Monday at the National Auto Dealers Association, where she will be senior director for federal affairs and chief legislative counsel. “With all due respect to my friends throughout the House and Senate — there is no brighter, more determined group of staff than the Issa Oversight Team!” she wrote in an email obtained by MT. Moore was with Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers before joining Issa.

MT POLL — Huerta or not? Will Michael Huerta be confirmed as FAA administrator before the end of the year? Or perhaps next year? Or maybe you think either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney, if elected, have someone else in mind. Gasp! It’s possible you don’t even give a hoot, but we still want you to vote by Sunday at noon: http://poll.fm/3vq85

BUS IT, BABY: Metro wants to hear from you about proposed bus service changes and will be holding public hearings in October on the subject. The operator says improvements on the way will help 15 riders for every one rider that is hurt, but we aren’t so sure that the $5 million investment Metro plans to use for the changes is “the biggest improvement to bus service in five years,” or if it will encourage riders who know that a lot more money is needed. http://bit.ly/OqexlL

THE CRASH LINEUP: NHTSA unveiled its list of model year 2013 automobiles that will be tested and scored as part of its five-star safety rating program, totaling nearly 85 percent of new 2013 model autos to be sold in the United States. The list: http://1.usa.gov/TSoR5R

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT funding runs out in 17 days, passenger rail policy in 383 days, surface transportation policy in 748 days and FAA policy in 1,113 days. There are 54 days before the general election, and the 113th Congress convenes in 115 days.

PRO DEFENSE IS ONLY DAYS AWAY: POLITICO Pro Defense launches next week. Readers will get the latest news on sequestration, appropriations, procurement and the power struggles among the White House, Congress and the Pentagon — brought to you throughout the day via breaking news alerts, quick Whiteboard items and in-depth journalism — plus invitations to exclusive, subscriber-only events. Pro Defense subscribers will also receive an enhanced version of Morning Defense every day by 6 a.m. Nonsubscribers will get the current version of Morning Defense at 9:30 a.m. To learn more, contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 or info@politicopro.com.

TRIVIA’S TRIUMPHANT RETURN: Join hosts Patrick Gavin and Tony Romm at 6 p.m. on Tuesday for another round of questions on all things policy, politics and D.C. Pros can RSVP with their team of four to awilliams@politico.com

CABOOSE — Landry’s a laugh: Mica isn’t the only T&I-er with a sense of humor. Committee member Jeff Landry can dish it out, too. “Are we mourning? We should be!” he said after Adam and Jessica, both wearing black suits, sidled up to the Louisiana lawmaker (also in black). But Landry won’t be mourning a failed presidential campaign any time soon. “I’m not the president — nor do I want to be,” he said, denying interest even in the out years of 2024 or 2028. “I said it on tape on purpose. Don’t erase it,” he told MT with a smile.

** A message from the Coalition for Future Mobility: Driving Safety: Human error. It’s a factor in 94% of all crashes according to government data. So imagine how much safer our roads would be with Autonomous Vehicles. By reducing risky and dangerous driving behaviors, AVs will help save lives. Tell Congress to greenlight Autonomous Vehicle testing and deployment.http://bit.ly/gl-sd **

About The Author

John Burgess Everett is a congressional reporter for POLITICO. He previously was a transportation reporter for POLITICO Pro, Web producer, helping run POLITICO’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, and a contributor to the On Media blog.

About The Author

Adam Snider is a transportation reporter for POLITICO Pro and author of Morning Transportation. He has covered transportation since 2007, joining POLITICO in 2011 to launch MT and later found the word “Mica-ism.”

Snider is a fan of all modes of transportation, though nothing beats a good silly walk. In his spare time, he can be found brewing a hoppy beer, rooting for the Nationals, watching a bad 1970s horror movie or exploring the District from his home base in Mount Pleasant.

Adam studied English and communications at Clemson University in South Carolina. His work has been featured by Nieman Journalism Lab and his snark has appeared on MSNBC. He has had several works of fiction published in literary journals and is constantly reminded of his proclamation to a fiction professor many years ago that journalism is for sellouts who abandon their creative dreams.